MPH worth it?

[u/jehovahzthiccness666]

I am considering going back to school to pursue a masters degree. I have been a bench tech for 2.5 years and have a BSBA. Looking at masters options, I don’t care to do MBA or MSMLS. I have zero desire to do any type of leadership role. I’ve been looking at MPH degrees but I’m seeing a lot of negative feedback on this sub and others about choosing that track (only finding wildly outdated posts though).

Anyone gone back to school to do something non-leadership role related that can give some insight? I really just love school and I love learning and I also want to give myself more options in a job field that has limited ones.

:)

[u/babyelephantsaysdamn]

I always like to ask folks what their goal is with getting a Masters degree when they start looking.

If you want to transition to working in public health, yes an MPH can be helpful. It’s less helpful if you are wanting to stay within hospital labs or independent labs.

If you want to move into administration an MBA or MHA are better choices.

If you are just doing a Masters degree because you think you will earn more as a bench tech, don’t. Most labs and hospital systems do not pay techs with Masters more money. The degree does not enhance your bench knowledge, so companies do not factor this into salary. It’s worth comes from leveraging the degree into different roles either by moving up in your current organization or changing roles entirely.

If you want to stay on the bench and advance on a way that may yield an earnings increase, sit for your specialty boards. Not all employers will necessarily give you a raise for this, but it makes you more competitive as a bench tech and is more frequently recognized in salary negotiations as a value add.

If you don’t have a goal and are planning to get a Masters and figure it out later, I would say pause. Not all degrees will help depending on the route you want to take. MPH v MHA have varying degrees return depending on what you want to do for example. Decide what your goals are, and then select the educational pathway that best suits meeting those goals.

[u/Swhite8203 → u/babyelephantsaysdamn]

I’ll likely get mine to be a higher level contributor on research projects for genetics. I’d like to work with Crispr eventually if I can. My AS is MLT and I’m board certified, my bachelors will be biotech and genetics broadly a bio degree, I’d get certification in Cytogenetics for the stuff that people don’t really know how to do anymore and I’d get certification in molecular biology for all the new things that come up since molecular is where genetics is largely going. I would get a masters in professional science concentrated on biotechnology. The school I’d be attending says 65k-75k out of school but I can probably earn more with experience. I’m on pace for 61k this year as an MLT on second shift but a lot of that is OT.